The dramatic relay was completed in a world-record time of 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds and considered one of the most dramatic swimming meets ever. Gold medal sensation Michael Phelps swam the first leg, Garrett Weber-Gale the second and Cullen Jones the third. But "it was Jason Lezak's fastest split in history" in the final leg at 46.06 seconds "and mad dash in the final 50 meters that had everyone buzzing."

The 24-year-old Bronx born phenom becomes the firstsecond black American swimmer to win Olympic gold.& ; Anthony Ervin was the first, winning the 50-meter freestyle in a tie with Gary Hall Jr. at Athens in 2000. A few scenes from the win and the medals ceremony, where Michael Phelps and Cullen Jones spend most of the time in each other's arms.

Not to be pedantic or anything, but the first black swimmer to win a gold medal at the Olympics was Suriname’s Anthony Nesty, who beat Matt Biondi for the gold in the 100-meter butterfly in 1988 at Seoul. (Now I realize, Rod, that down in your article you say "United States first black gold medalist in swimming," but up top, the title simply states "Cullen Jones Becomes First Black Swimmer to Win Gold Medal.")

Anyway, from Wikipedia:

“Nesty’s victory in Seoul was a momentous social and political event for Afro-Caribbeans. The Suriname government commemorated Nesty’s gold-medal performance on a stamp and on gold and silver coins. A 25-guilder bank note portraying the illustration of a butterfly swimmer was printed in his honor.”

cullen jones was the SECOND african american to win a swimming gold medal.

the first one was Anthony Ervin--he won the 50m freestyle gold and a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

jim: it seemed pretty clear that when people are talking about cullen jones, they are saying african american all the announcers have been hailing cullen jones as the second AFRICAN AMERICAN swimmer to win a gold medal.

No mention was made of Nesty at all--because it was clear that they were talking about cullen's win in reference to him being african american...

besides, its a known fact that Nesty wasn't too keen on even being considered Black back then...I'm sure things changed now....

Either way, a fantastic win for Cullen Jones...

and hey, at least Michael Phelps has taste in men..cause Cullen was the hottest one on the team...im sure phelps "rabid" fans on towleroad.com will say otherwise..but it was VERY clear that Cullen was the star of the Water Cube..I mean, I noticed a HOST of swimmers on the other teams checking him out...:)

I am soooo proud of Cullen Jones. He is an inspiration to everyone. From an inner city swimming pool to gold at Beijing. YES WE CAN. Keep reaching for the stars, my brothers and sisters, and keep up the great Olympics coverage my man Rod 2.0.

Umm, that definitely qualifies as pedantic, Jim. The title says "black" but it's clear from the copy that this is about the United States. OTOH, Ryan and Luther are correct and I made a mistake about Ervin. I'll be changing that asap.

It's a fantastic win for Cullen. I'm proud this blog has reported on Cullen for two years.

I'm really proud of Cullen's win. This shows that despite your background or circumstances or skin color, if you really want to accomplish something, you can. He is a superb athlete and I amdmire him so. Cullen is also bangin' and sexy.

However, I do agree with some on here who have rightfully pointed out that the nitpicking over who was first, who is what color, what the headline says, etc takes away from the accomplishment. I'm very happy that Cullen Jones won. I'm also very happy that Rod has been talking about for quite some time, this isn't his first post.

its easy for anyone to have made that mistake, seeing as though when you see Ervin, he can easily pass for white (and hasn't always been keen to acknowledge he is Black interiews post Olympics)

But, truth is truth...saying that cullen was the second doesnt take away from the fact that he has won and it damn sure doesnt stop the now millions of black boys and girls across this planet who see him as a role model either...

Yes RYAN AND ROD, "truth is truth" and there is a major difference between the FIRST AND SECOND gold medalist, and between the FIRST black ever to win a medal in swimming versus one fromthis country.

Maybe Rod isn't so well rested after taking a few days off after causing a riot in the blogosphere over REPORTING SO-CALLED FACTS on POCC. And how can Miss Ryan excuse Rod's HUGE MISTAKE? Didn't they teach you better at Columbia? Rod, could YOU do such lazy so called REPORTING at CBS?

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. This young man has always been destined for greatness. I was overjoyed and ecstatic to watch Cullen Jones in that fantastic race. It was remarkable. He is an inspiration to us all.

Not to beat a dead horse .. but wasn't Cullen the THRID African-American and second African-American male.
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But anyway... Im Glad ROD pointed that out (regardless of 1st, or 2nd or 3rd) ... Its like NBC so caught up on SUCKING PHELPS DICK that they just really glossed over Cullen's accomplishment.

Not to beat a dead horse .. but wasn't Cullen the THRID African-American and second African-American male to win a medal (Maritza Correia won silveron the 4x1 free team in Athens)
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But anyway... Im Glad ROD pointed that out (regardless of 1st, or 2nd or 3rd) ... Its like NBC so caught up on SUCKING PHELPS DICK that they just really glossed over Cullen's accomplishment.